Saturday marked the 22nd Annual Earth Day Cleanup in the city of Taunton as about 140 volunteers cleared streets and problem areas of trash and debris.

Christopher Nichols

Saturday marked the 22nd Annual Earth Day Cleanup in the city of Taunton as about 140 volunteers cleared streets and problem areas of trash and debris.

The event was put together by the Taunton Ecology Awareness Movement (TEAM), which held its first Earth Day Cleanup in 1990. From 9 a.m. to noon, participants cleaned railroad tracks from the Weir to Danforth Street, areas around Stevens Street, Scadding Street, Prospect Hill Street and Alfred Lord Boulevard, the Silver City Galleria mall area and locations in downtown Taunton, among many others.

“It’s awesome...” said Lee Ann Tavares, who coordinated the event with fellow TEAM member Karen Kullas. “It’s three hours. You still have your day left, but you make such a difference.”

One of the focus areas for the group was Stevens Street, where — after five years of work — the street is finally cleared of trash and tires.

“Tires are a nightmare. They’re everywhere,” said Tavares, adding that 60 to 65 tires from around Stevens Street were removed this year alone. “…(Stevens Street) was a tough area. It took us five years, but we did it.”

According to Tavares, this year saw a mix of new volunteers and volunteers who have helped out nearly every year.

“Since we’ve been doing this for so long, one of our volunteers… said that she remembered doing it as a teenager, so this year she’s bringing her kids. So now we’re on to a new generation (of volunteers),” said Tavares.

Tavares also said that she and Kullas are extremely grateful for all the help they get from volunteers, organizations and businesses that donate their time and/or money to support the cause.

“Thanks so much to all of the volunteers because they’re the ones making the difference in Taunton… These people are great to give up their time all these years,” said Tavares.

East Taunton Elementary

In conjunction with the citywide Earth Day Cleanup, about 25 students, Girl Scouts and parents volunteered their time this year to clean the grounds at East Taunton Elementary School.

“It’s Earth Day for the city of Taunton, so the city of Taunton has organized different people in different places. So we decided we’d come here and do our diligence at the school,” said Janine Taylor, a member of the school’s Parent Teacher Organization who organized Saturday’s event. “We’re just going to clean up and do what’s needed. That’s our duty to the school and our duty to the city.”

While the cleanup at East Taunton was organized separately from the TEAM cleanup, TEAM did provide trash bags and gloves to the volunteers, according to Taylor.

One fourth-grade student, Matthew Callahan, said he came out to on Saturday simply to help out his school.

“There’s a big cleanup going on,” said Callahan. “We’re cleaning up the school piece by piece… The reason why I came out here today was to clean up the school so that maybe someday, we can have a perfect, clean school.”

Dan Fagan, the principal at East Taunton, also lent his hand on Saturday, and said he was extremely grateful for all the support from the parents and students. He also said Saturday was a good way to get students involved in the community.

“We organized an Earth Day Cleanup to help beautify the ground at the school. It’s a great way to get the students involved in some service activity. It’s a great way to get them involved in more than just the books,” said Fagan.

More TEAM cleanups

Tavares also said that TEAM will likely be looking to do a similar cleanup event this fall to help clean areas along many of the rivers in Taunton.

Those looking to help can contact TEAM at tauntonecoaware@gmail.com or visit the group’s Facebook page.